Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service: Difference between revisions

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* [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 9]], 1220 [[27th Street North]] ([[Norwood]])
* [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 9]], 1220 [[27th Street North]] ([[Norwood]])
* [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 10]] 4120 ([[2nd Avenue South]]) ([[Avondale]]) Listed on the National Register. Retired 2009. Building disposition undetermined.
* [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 10]] 4120 ([[2nd Avenue South]]) ([[Avondale]]) Listed on the National Register. Retired 2009. Building disposition undetermined.
* [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 10/22 (2009)]] 4500 [[5th Avenue South]] ([[Avondale]] and [[Clairmont]])  
* [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 10/22|Birmingham Fire Station No. 10/22 (2009)]] 4500 [[5th Avenue South]] ([[Avondale]] and [[Clairmont]])  
* [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 11]], 1250 [[13th Street North]] ([[Fountain Heights]]), retired, listed on the National Register. Currently in disrepair.
* [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 11]], 1250 [[13th Street North]] ([[Fountain Heights]]), retired, listed on the National Register. Currently in disrepair.
** [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 11 (2005)]] 4601 [[Bessemer Super Highway]] ([[Roosevelt City]])
** [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 11 (2005)]] 4601 [[Bessemer Super Highway]] ([[Roosevelt City]])

Revision as of 21:29, 18 March 2011

BFRS Patch.jpg

The Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service was founded in 1872 as the Birmingham Fire Department under chief Ferdinand Neville.

The current service is headed by Chief Ivor Brooks (replacing Acting Chief Carl A. Harper) and consists of 648 firefighters in four battalions responding from 30 stations. The Department's motto is "Excellence through Service".

History

The Birmingham Fire Department originally only served the downtown area. A system of alarm bells told firemen which ward the alarm originated from. The department's new steamer, nicknamed Bossie O'Brien, was paraded for Mardi Gras 1886.

Before the city organized the Fire Department under Chief Neville, the city was protected with Bossie O'Brien and other apparatus by various volunteer outfits that competed with each other.

In May 1909 Mayor George Ward reported the following yearly acquisitions for the fire department:

  • 1905 (baseline): 6 fire stations, 56 men, 31 horses, 5 engines, 6 hose wagons, 1 truck, 1 chemical unit, 1 chief's buggy, and 320 fire plugs
  • 1906: 7 fire stations, 88 men, 40 horses, 5 engines, 7 hose wagons, 2 trucks, 1 chemical unit, 2 chief's buggies, and 365 fire plugs
  • 1907: 9 fire stations, 107 men, 46 horses, 6 engines, 9 hose wagons, 2 trucks, 1 chemical unit, 2 chief's buggies, and 426 fire plugs
  • 1908: The addition of 3 supply wagons and 34 new fire plugs.1.

The Chief and Mayor were at odds as to whether to get a new motorized fire pumper, so a race was organized. The first to get from City Hall to present-day Five Points South along 20th Street would win. The motorized pumper won, and proved its worth later when a fire at Howard College broke out. The horses pulling the steam pumper couldn't make the hill. But the motorized pumper was there in a matter of minutes.

The last fire service horse in Birmingham was retired in the early 1970's from Station 17 in Wylam.

On March 10, 1934 the department, headed by chief B. O. Hargrove fought a massive fire at the Loveman, Joseph & Loeb warehouse. Following the fire, a souvenir book describing the battle was published with proceeds going to the Birmingham Firemen's Relief Association. The book listed the department's equipment at the time as follows:

1 65-foot Seagrave Water Tower
2 85-foot Seagrave Aerial Ladder Trucks
1 55-foot Seagrave Service Truck
1 55-fot American LaFrance Service Truck
2 1200-gallon Seagrave Pumpers
1 1000-gallon American LaFrance Pumper
2 750-gallon Seagrave Pumpers
1 600-gallon Seagrave Pumper
14 750-gallon American LaFrance Pumpers
3 600-gallon American LaFrance Pumpers
1 Seagrave Combination Chemical and Hose Wagon
Various small trucks and sedans for personnel
Approx. 70,000 feet of hose line

The department added a paramedic program to its services in 1973, modeling its system on one used by the U. S. Air Force. Chief Floyd Wilks made the first rescue run from Birmingham Fire Station No. 1 on November 22 of that year, responding to the shooting of a Phillips High School student at Linn Park. That unit made an average of 300 calls a month across the city. It was joined by two additional trucks in 1974. The equipment was replaced with larger trucks in 1977, and again in 1993, when the department began transporting critical patients to hospitals in its own rescue vehicles rather than calling for ambulance services. By 1999 it had added enough units to transport all patients and was participating in the Birmingham Regional Emergency Medical Services System to determine which emergency room was best equipped to handle the call.

The department currently operates with 648 firefighters staffing 30 stations in four battalions. The department has 27 pumpers, 2 quint trucks, 2 bronto units, and 16 rescue units. They also have two hazardous materials units, two heavy rescue units, two air units, two decontamination units and two brush-fire trucks. The department also keeps a small fleet of electric golf carts which can be used for operations during public events like City Stages.

Chiefs

Stations

Notes

  1. (Ward-1909)

References

  • Bryant, Walter E. (February 24, 1997) "City's rescue services have grown since first began 23 years ago." Birmingham News
  • Baumgardner, Randy W. Birmingham Fire & Rescue Service: Millennium Edition. (2002) Nashville, Tennessee: Turner Publishing Co. ISBN 1563117002

External links

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